Donald Wright

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American judge (1907-1985)

title: "Donald Wright" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1907-births", "1985-deaths", "harvard-law-school-alumni", "stanford-university-alumni", "judges-of-the-california-courts-of-appeal", "chief-justices-of-california", "people-from-placentia,-california", "california-judges-appointed-by-ronald-reagan", "superior-court-judges-in-the-united-states", "20th-century-california-state-court-judges", "lawyers-from-los-angeles", "united-states-army-officers", "united-states-army-personnel-of-world-war-ii"] description: "American judge (1907-1985)" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Wright" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American judge (1907-1985) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	Donald Richard Wright
image	Donald R. Wright, 1971.jpg
caption	Official portrait, 1971
order	24th
office	Chief Justice of California
termstart	April 17, 1970
termend	February 1, 1977
appointer	Ronald Reagan
predecessor	Roger J. Traynor
successor	Rose Bird
office2	Associate Justice of the California Court of Appeal, Second District, Division Two
termstart2	December 23, 1968
termend2	April 16, 1970
appointer2	Ronald Reagan
successor2	Lynn Compton
birth_date
birth_place	Placentia, California, U.S.
death_date
death_place	Pasadena, California, U.S.
spouse
alma_mater	Stanford University (BA)
Harvard University (LLB)
::

Biography

Born in Placentia, California, Wright earned his Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University in 1929 and his Bachelor of Laws from Harvard Law School in 1932. Admitted to the California State Bar in 1933, he worked in private practice at the law firm of Barrick, Poole & Knox in Pasadena, California until 1953, except for 1942–1946 when he served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II.

In 1953, Governor Earl Warren appointed Wright to the Los Angeles Municipal Court, where he served until 1961 when he was elected to the Los Angeles County Superior Court. In June 1968, Sirhan B. Sirhan appeared in court for arraignment on the charge of first-degree murder of Robert F. Kennedy, and Wright as presiding judge assigned a public defender to the case.

In 1968, Wright left the Superior Court when Governor Ronald Reagan appointed him as an associate justice of California Second District Court of Appeal, Division Two. In 1970, Reagan appointed Wright as the 24th Chief Justice of California, where he served from April 17, 1970, until his retirement on February 1, 1977. In the November 1970 judicial retention elections, Wright received 80.6% of the vote. When Wright stepped down, Governor Jerry Brown named Rose Bird as Wright's replacement.

Among Wright's most notable cases was People v. Anderson (1972), striking down the death penalty as cruel and unusual punishment, and in violation of the state constitution. In another opinion, Vesely v. Sager (1971), he crafted the doctrine of host liability for a provider of alcohol to someone who later injures another.

On March 21, 1985, Wright died in Pasadena, California.

Honors and legacy

In 1971, the University of the Pacific conferred on him a LL.D. (honorary). In 1972, the California Trial Lawyers Association named Wright the Appellate Judge of the Year. In 1977, the Orange County Bar Association awarded him the Judge Franklin G. West Award. The Pasadena Bar Association annually awards the Donald R. Wright Distinguished Service Award for contributions to law and society.

His papers are held at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California.

Personal life

In 1932, Wright married Margaret W. McLellan.

References

(October 5, 1927). "Committee Appointments". The Stanford Daily.
(March 22, 1985). "Ex-Chief Justice Wright, Foe of Death Penalty, Dies". Los Angeles Times.
(September 30, 1953). "Warren Names Judges". California Digital Newspaper Collection.
(October 28, 1957). "Those Tire Marks Don't Mean A Thing". California Digital Newspaper Collection.
(June 12, 1968). "Sirhan To Have Public Defender For His Lawyer". California Digital Newspaper Collection.
(January 31, 1977). "Justice Wright to Retire". California Digital Newspaper Collection.
(2012). "Justice Stanley Mosk: A Life at the Center of California Politics and Justice". McFarland.
(January 1984). "Book Review: Framed: The New Right Attack on Chief Justice Rose Bird and the Courts". Golden Gate University Law Review.
(March 22, 1985). "Donald R. Wright, 78; Was California Justice". New York Times.
[http://scocal.stanford.edu/opinion/vesely-v-sager-27639 ''Vesely v. Sager''], 5 Cal. 3rd 153, 486 P.2d 181, 95 Cal. Rptr. 623 (1971)
(March 28, 1985). "Editorial: Wright: Justice of Principle". California Digital Newspaper Collection.
"Past Franklin G. West Award Honorees". Orange County Bar Association.
"Finding aid for Papers of Donald R. Wright, 1933-1977 (bulk 1970-1977)". Huntington Library.

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